Jammu and Kashmir Director General of Police (DGP) Dilbag Singh, on Wednesday, had directed officers to augment security and keep a vigil on suspicious elements along the Jammu-Srinagar national highway. Singh had ordered the surveillance during his visit to the Amarnath Yatra camps along the highway, ahead of the upcoming pilgrimage for seamless conduction to?the 3,880-meter-high holy cave shrine of Amarnath in the south Kashmir Himalayas.

The 43-day-long yatra is scheduled to start on June 30 from the twin routes -- the traditional 48-km Nunwan route in south Kashmir's Pahalgam and the 14-km short Baltal route in central Kashmir's Ganderbal -- after a gap of two years due to the coronavirus pandemic. The police chief visited the yatra transit camps at Mir Bazaar, Walnut Factory, and Lamber in Qazigund district of south Kashmir and Ramban district of the Jammu region and took stock of the security arrangements put in place for the pilgrims, according to a police spokesperson.

The DGP also emphasized increased coordination and communication among the forces for a quick response to the requirements for the security and assistance of the pilgrims, the police spokesperson said. Singh said the security grid needs to be strengthened and all-important locations along the yatra route should be kept under round-the-clock surveillance.

Singh also directed that important places, including the "langars" (community kitchens) and parking lots, should be brought under the security cover and stressed on sharing of inputs among the agencies for preventive measures, and discussed?the traffic management on the highway, the only all-weather road linking Kashmir with the rest of the country, with the officers.?